All language subtitles for Reconnecting With Ourselves (2022) 720p GAIA x264.ENG

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When I was very young,
I didn't really believe any

of the theories about
how the world worked,

whether I learned it from school
in science or my religious

teachings, my
Methodist religion.

I didn't believe, really.

None of it really satisfied me.

And so I started
exploring other types

of spiritual kinds of text.

So things like Kabbalah or
theosophy or anthroposophy.

Those kinds of things
really interested me.

I also read "The Dead Sea
Scrolls," books of the Bible

that they claim weren't
put into the Bible,

because I wanted to
know what was really

going on with our world.

What was our purpose?

Why are we here?

And I couldn't
find these answers.

And eventually, I realized
from all of the reading

that I did that the
best way to find out

is through personal experience.

And meditation was
something I had learned

about that you could
get quiet inside

and learn how to access things
like maybe your intuition

or telepathic abilities.

And so I wanted to learn
how all of this worked.

When I first tried to meditate,
it was really impossible.

I would simply watch more
breath and close my eyes

and wait for my mind to empty,
and it wasn't so simple.

I would try to meditate and all
I would hear is grocery lists

or what conversation I wanted
to have with my boss next week.

This was not quieting the mind
at all, until I found sound.

And certain types
of sound really

helped me find that
quiet space inside.

So at first it was things
like gongs or tuning forks

or brass bowls, crystal bowls.

[HUM]

And this kind of sound really
helped me to quiet the brain.

Now in modern times,
we have something

called binaural
beats, and these are

sounds created with
digital frequencies that

create that wah, wah sound,
but in very deliberate ways.

And what those sounds
are designed to do,

binaural beats are
at their most basic

putting one frequency in one
ear and a slightly different

frequency in the other ear.

And it's the difference
between those two frequencies

that's important.

And that difference
is driving what

we believe is a brainwave
state associated

with states of meditation.

When you take an EEG device that
measures the electric signal

that comes out of the
brain, it comes out

in hertz or cycles per second.

And zero to four hertz
is delta, and that's

the state that's associated
with sleep or coma.

Four to seven hertz is
theta, and that's associated

with deep meditative states.

Seven to about 12
hertz is alpha,

and that's associated with
being relaxed or very focused.

12 to, say, 30 hertz,
that's the beta state.

That's the state we're in
when we're walking, talking.

And that's the state we want
to kind of remove ourselves

from and get into that lower
state of awareness associated

with meditation.

Between delta and
theta, that's the state

between asleep and awake.

And others call this
the hypnagogic state.

When you can get the body
very profoundly relaxed,

but the mind is
still aware, that's

the state we're very
interested in, because this

is where we can start to
make real change in ourselves

and also start to
notice things that

are beyond the physical body.

And so one of those
things is the observer.

We call it the inner observer.

That's the part of you
that's behind the thoughts.

And so one of the most common
meditative sort of directions

is to watch your breath.

And when you notice
your mind wandering,

return your attention
to the breath.

And it's the part of you
that notices your mind

is wandering that we're
most interested in.

This is not your thoughts.

This is not your
reactive emotions.

That's what we're used to
thinking of as who we are.

But when we can get behind
all that-- and binaural beats

can help us do
that, because they

help to reduce our awareness
of those ongoing thoughts

and get us into an
awareness that's more

associated with maybe dreaming.

But we're very aware.

These kinds of sounds can be
used for all kinds of reasons.

Some people use them just to
get a better night's sleep,

because we can feed those
signals that will put you

into a more restful state.

But other people use
them to gain more focus

when they're studying.

People use them to get more
creative, to access creativity

that is from within.

So painters or writers can
use it to kind of open up

those channels.

And not only that, you
can use these recordings

to relieve stress and anxiety.

And I think this really
speaks to this correlation

between our inner world
and our outer world.

And so when we get
ourselves kind of in order

in our inner world, that's
when things in our outer world

really start to change.

And this can be kind
of counterintuitive,

but the way this works is when
we can think of things that we

want to have in our lives--

let's say it's a
more fulfilling job,

more fulfilling employment.

How do we get there?

Well, many people
use affirmations

where they speak the things
that they want in their minds.

But a more powerful
way to do this

is to bring your
feelings into it.

And so the idea
that we recommend

when people want to bring
something new into their lives

is to imagine, what would
it feel like if you already

had that fulfilling,
satisfying job?

We can all imagine what it would
feel like to have something

that we wish to have.

And so this is what needs to
be added to just our thoughts.

And very often, when you
start to go within and start

to pay attention to that
inner world, at least

in my case and many
that I've spoken to,

we start to find little things
that don't seem to belong,

things that we maybe
thought we had dealt with.

So things like deep
loneliness or despair

might come up when you
start to get quiet inside.

And I know I thought
to myself, well,

when I felt this
kind of despair,

I thought, well, I'm not lonely.

I have friends.

What's going on here?

And what I eventually
discovered is

that I was triggering an
emotional trauma that I

had maybe 20 years
ago in my childhood

that I hadn't really
dealt with, and I had just

stored into my system.

And so when we start
to imagine things

that we want to
have in our lives,

if there's conflicting
feelings inside,

that can really put a
damper on everything.

And so it's really
important to understand

all of your emotional reactions,
all of the kinds of limiting

beliefs you might
have about things

that you want to generate
happening in your life.

By going within, by establishing
this practice of triggering

emotional traumas
and releasing them

and understanding where beliefs
might be getting in your way,

these are the
subconscious beliefs

that maybe we're
not quite aware of.

We want to clear out
all those conflicts

and find real clarity inside.

And when you can
really release all

of the limiting beliefs
and emotional reactions,

that's when you
really start to align

with that more expanded
nature of who we

all truly are made of.

We are souls at our most
basic, and we are in a body.

It's not the opposite.

We weren't a body
that created a soul.

We were a soul that
inhabits a body.

And so really understanding
how your soul works,

why it came here, you know,
what it needs to accomplish

can be very useful.

And any practice of going
within can get you there.

But for me, binaural
beats have always

been a very useful way of
getting past that surface

kind of thoughts and emotions.

One of the more useful
techniques that I learned

was awareness of the heart.

And I was very, very fascinated
by all of the research done

by HeartMath.

This is an institute
in California

that's been scientifically
studying the heart for decades.

And what they've found--

and this is for all of us,
all of us who have a heart--

that it emits an
electromagnetic field

that comes out of
the body like this,

and it's in the
shape of a torus.

What they found is it
actually expands and contracts

based on your emotional state.

So emotions like joy
or happiness, that'll

create a very large field.

But emotions like
sadness or grief

or anger or greed,
emotions like that

will create a more
constricted field.

And this is important, because
our electromagnetic field

of the heart actually
expands and contracts.

And as it does that,
it has the ability

to influence other
people around us.

Now, our brains have an
electromagnetic field too.

And people like to
think that the brain is

in charge of everything.

And of course, it's a
very important organ

in the body, no doubt.

But the brain has a much
smaller electromagnetic field.

The heart is 60 times
greater than the brain's

in the electric
part of the field.

And in the emotional
part of the field,

the heart is 3,000 times
bigger than the brain.

So you can imagine as it's
expanding and contracting

that it's reaching some
rather far distances.

And this ability to influence
others is quite remarkable.

They've done
studies at HeartMath

where someone will be sitting
across the table from someone

else, and the one person
who's in on the experiment

is doing what's known as
a coherence technique.

Now, a coherence
technique is simply

generating a feeling
of gratitude.

Not a thought of gratitude,
but a feeling of gratitude.

And the person who's
doing this is actually

able to influence the
heart rate variability

and the brainwave state of
the person sitting across

from them, bringing them
into a calmer state.

And so as we're walking
around in the world

and interacting
with others, this

is going on, whether
we realize it or not.

Our hearts are influencing
the people around us.

And we can pay
attention, and we know

who those people are who maybe
make us feel uncomfortable

and those others who make us
feel very good and welcome.

And this is really
interesting to note.

But along with noting what
is going on in other people's

heart fields, it's most
useful to pay attention

to what's going on in
your own heart field.

Your own heart field
is the only one

that you have the ability
to manage directly,

and you do it by learning to
manage your emotional state.

And so this idea of generating
feelings of gratitude,

for me this was
very difficult. I

knew how to think of
things I was grateful for,

but generating a
feeling was different.

I seem to be one
of those people--

and there may be many
of us out there--

who learned how to shut down
my feelings in order to protect

myself from being hurt.

But at the same time,
I lost the ability

to generate at will these
really good types of feelings.

And so I had to
practice for a while.

And one of the pieces
of advice I got

was to recall things from my
past that I was grateful for.

I remembered back to
when I was six years old.

My mother had taken
in a stray dog,

and that dog was a girl
dog, and it was pregnant.

And it proceeded to give birth
to puppies underneath my bed.

And this was a very
magical kind of moment

for me, all of this
wiggly life coming

to fore underneath my bed.

And so this memory
of this experience

caused me to feel these kind
of flickers of gratitude

in my heart.

And the more I
practiced this feeling,

the more I felt it grow.

It's this sort of
warm kind of energy

that you feel in your heart.

And when you really
focus on it, you

can feel it expand
around your body.

And all of us can do this.

Say, in a line at a
bank or a grocery store

where maybe some people
are in a bad mood

because it's taking
too long, when

I imagine my heart
expanding around

my body with these
good feelings,

I can see people's mood change.

And so this can be very useful
to just try in your own life.

It's fascinating to read
about this kind of research,

but applying it in
our lives is what

I find to be the most useful way
to kind of use this information

to help myself and also others.

And I call this the
ultimate golden rule.

You know, how we
want to treat others

as we would like to be treated.

Well, the ultimate
golden rule is

placing this kind of
self-love, these loving

feelings in your heart, knowing
that it's affecting people

around you in positive ways.

And so if all, all
humans on the planet

or even the majority of us
can learn how to do this,

imagine how our
world might change.

This idea of feeling gratitude
is really a beautiful way

to think about this
idea of loving yourself.

I know when I grappled
with that concept,

it was very challenging for me
to think about directing love

towards myself, because
many of us, when we're

very young usually, we
try to protect ourselves

from things that happen.

In my case, my parents,
my mother and father,

were divorced at
a very young age.

And they involved
me and my brothers

very directly in this
decision by sitting us down

when I was seven years old and
asking us, which parent would

you like to live with?

They asked us to
make that choice.

Now at this time, my father had
been in Vietnam for two years,

and I didn't really
know him that well,

because he hadn't been around.

So for me, it was a
very easy decision.

I said, well, of course I
want to live with my mother.

And I decided in that moment
that I didn't need my father.

Now at that moment, it
felt like the very thing

I needed to do to
keep myself to be

strong to not miss him and feel
so sad that he wasn't around.

But what I effectively
ended up doing

was shutting down my
ability to receive love

from men, basically.

And so this worked fine when I
was a child, but as I got older

and I wanted to get into
relationships with others,

I had built this
wall around my heart,

a wall I didn't even
realize existed.

And it's when I started
meditating, especially

when I started doing Sufi
heart rhythm meditation where

we started to put a lot
of awareness on the heart,

and we did this by
imagining our breath was

moving in and out of our heart.

Just that simple
act alone triggered

these feelings of
abandonment, of being alone,

of having no one
there, and despair,

and I didn't know
where it came from.

And then I realized
eventually-- it wasn't quick,

this can take a little time--

that I had done it to myself.

And we all do this.

When we're rejected as
children from our peers,

maybe from an abusive parent,
or maybe a teacher or minister

says something in
a certain way that

hurts us and we
don't understand--

and I call these baby wounds,
because they happen to us

before we can really
have the bigger

picture of maybe why a parent
or teacher said a certain thing.

They're wounds inside that
happened before we understood

what was going on, and
we set up little systems

to protect ourselves.

And so as adults, as
grown-ups, it is very useful

to go in and understand
maybe if you're

having issues in
relationships, or maybe you're

having an issue where you can't
hold down a steady job, what

did you potentially do
when you were very young

and didn't realize how it
might affect you later in life?

It can be called an
abandonment wound,

a universal abandonment wound.

We all seem to
create these reasons

for not being good
enough, for not

being deserving,
any of those things

that we want to
have in our lives.

And these are very often
subconscious beliefs

that hold us back, and other
times they're very conscious.

But all of them are related
to things that we probably

didn't mean to do to ourselves.

And it can be very useful
to go within, find out

what those things are in your
own life, and release them.

These kinds of
things can really set

you free to really manifest
the things that you

want to have in your life.

It's so easy, especially
in relationships

or any kind of issue, to
blame others for our problems.

It's always something
else beyond our control.

Now in psychology, there's
something called locus

of control, internal or
external locus of control.

And internal locus
of control people

believe that their actions,
their beliefs, their thoughts,

and their behaviors have an
influence on their unfolding

reality.

But external locus
of control people,

they think that everything
is fate or destiny,

that there's
nothing they can do,

that the world will deliver
to them whatever it will,

and they're just a
victim of all of this.

But in relationship,
it can be very useful

when you're triggered somehow by
something that someone else is

doing to not blame
the other person,

but to look inside yourself and
wonder, what is inside of me

that's causing that trigger?

Why am I responding to
this particular behavior

in this way?

And so by focusing on the
inner world, lots of things

can change in the outer world.

And this happened for me.

I didn't realize
really the extent

of how this could go until
I started meditating.

I did have a relationship
I wasn't satisfied with.

I did have a job I
wasn't satisfied with.

I lived in a location
that I wasn't satisfied.

And I wondered, how could I
change all of those things?

And it was very challenging
to think about making

all of those changes.

But when I started
going within and I

started to release all
of these limiting beliefs

and these old traumas,
I didn't realize that

by cleaning up my inner
world, by really developing

and cultivating that
peaceful inner sanctum,

then my outer world
started to change.

All by itself.

It was completely amazing
how all of this took place.

And I've met other people--

I'm not alone.

I tell other people
this and they

will say the same thing
happened to them, that when

they started to focus
on their inner world

that everything in
their outer world

started to shift on its own.

And this even extended to issues
with my daughter, that teenager

I was having troubles with.

I used to want to fix her.

I would want to
talk to her teachers

and straighten her friends out
and change what clothes she

was wearing, and all of that.

But when I started focusing on
my inner world and didn't worry

about her anymore--

of course, I still worried,
but I didn't actively

try to make changes
in her life--

she started to make changes
in her life on her own.

It was amazing.

And so I think we all kind of
set these templates for others

to follow.

Somehow I believe it's related
to that electromagnetic field

of the heart.

When my electromagnetic
field gets smooth

and I'm around my daughter,
hers automatically

starts to get smoother.

And so again, this
ultimate golden rule.

By focusing on ourselves
and creating that self-love,

we end up helping
others in ways that

are so mysterious, but
obvious once they take place.

And these synchronicities
are fascinating,

because sometimes these
things will happen,

and we like to call
them coincidences.

For example, if we're
looking for an answer

to a vexing problem,
and then suddenly you

see a billboard that has a
word on it that triggers,

oh my gosh, that's the
solution, many of us

call that a coincidence.

But really, a better
word is synchronicity.

Carl Jung used this word
in his therapy work.

And these are things
that happen that maybe

are related in ways that we
can't imagine from our place.

But when we start to realize
that the universe is working

for us, and when we can create
a resonance, for example,

of positivity and love
and gratitude, all of that

is sort of a beacon
that is radiating

these kinds of feelings.

And the universe has no
choice but to line up

with that resonance.

By creating that
within yourself,

you open up this
opportunity for the universe

to deliver to you what it
is that you're seeking.

But you must pay attention.

There's a joke I like to
tell where a man was drowning

in the ocean, and he prays to
God, God, will you help me?

And God doesn't answer.

And a boat goes by
and he says, hey,

would you like us to help you?

Throws him a life raft.

He says, no, no, no.

I'm waiting for God.

Someone else comes by.

Hey, here.

A helicopter with a rope.

No, no, no.

I'm waiting for God.

He ends up drowning.

He gets to heaven and
says, God, what happened?

I was calling for you.

And he says, well, what do
you think that boat was?

What do you think
that helicopter was?

So our expectation of
how things should show up

is not necessarily how
things will show up.

And the universe
seems to know best.

And if we can just
find this trust

and find this sort of
flow with the universe

and realize that
we energetically

are an integral part
of it, all of us

together form one collective
mind, and each of us

is an integral piece of it.

And it is our personal
responsibility

to really maintain
our energy so that it

is compatible with the rest
of that collective mind.

One thing that really
fascinated me when

I was doing all of the reading
about alternative spirituality

is that I also read a lot
about our alternative history,

and I was convinced
as a young child

that our ancient history
was not complete.

Everyone learns, at
least in America,

about those Giza pyramids
in our ancient history,

and they tell us that they were
built by pharaohs as burial

terms by thousands of slaves.

But then when they try to
recreate the engineering

feats of the Great Pyramid
today, they can't equal it.

They can't align it to the
four directions the way

it's aligned.

They can't stack the blocks
as closely as they're stacked.

And in fact, none
of us today really

can explain how those
pyramids were built.

And yet, we think we're so
advanced technologically.

So this immediately
told me many,

many years ago as a
young person that we

must have had some technology
that we've forgotten,

that somehow technology used
to exist on Earth that we

no longer know how to activate.

And so at first, I
thought this must

have been bigger machines
or somehow better tools

that we don't have anymore.

But one thing that I came across
that makes so much sense to me

is that these pyramids were
built using sound or vibration,

and that by somehow using
the human voice or some kind

of instrument, they
were able to alter I

guess the matter of stones
into something more malleable

that was either lighter
or easier to use or shape.

And somehow, this
alteration in frequency

was a skill that
was known to humans

who lived here on planet Earth.

And it fascinates
me that this is

found all over the planet,
these kinds of engineering feats

that we can't equal today.

And when you look at these,
you find that many of them

are aligned to stars or
different constellations

in our skies.

This also tells me that our
ancient ancestors knew things

that we don't give
them credit for.

And a lot of this
can also be related

to spirituality, because
way back in those times,

they knew many of the concepts
that we hear about today,

that we're just
starting to hear about,

that we're made of
one consciousness,

that mind existed before matter.

These kinds of things used
to be common knowledge.

And our more advanced
academic types

like to say that our
ancient ancestors maybe

weren't as smart
as we are today,

but I would like to
offer that maybe,

just maybe they were a
little smarter in some ways.

And these ancient sites around
the world are perfect evidence.

And so I love when people take
time to study and learn more

about these ancient structures,
because it informs us

on how we should
be moving forward

with our collective world today.

I encourage anyone who's
listening to find that hope,

because we've taken a
wrong turn in our society,

and we're in the process
of correcting that turn.

And that turn can really
be attributed to this idea

of materialist science.

The idea that only the
physical world exists

is actually a theory,
but somehow that theory

has come to be known as truth,
especially in our secular

society that has kind
of taken religion out

of the equation
for many reasons,

because there are some problems
with organized religion

that many people have found.

But in doing that, we've
kind of thrown the baby out

with the bathwater.

We've thrown out this
idea of spirituality.

And by bringing back
the idea that we

are more than our
physical bodies,

that we do not exist only from
birth to death and nothing

more, that there's a
grander reason for all

of us being here,
this kind of idea

can bring much
hope to many of us.

And we can access
this by going within.

We don't need to wait for
scientists to get around

to telling us that
mind is powerful,

that this is a good thing.

We can find out for ourselves.

By creating any practice of
going within-- and again,

sound can be very
useful for those of us

in the West who have
trouble quieting our minds,

especially in the secular
world where we're not

used to thinking
of a higher power

or some kind of
greater influence.

But when you go within
and quiet the mind

and get behind all
of those thoughts

and emotions and that despair
and those triggers that we all

have, you find there
is something greater,

and you are connected to it.

And I guarantee anyone
who takes the time

to really find the
techniques that

work for them will find this.

And this connection
to something greater

is such an antidote to
all of this in our world,

because the materialist
science that

has infiltrated
our secular world

has stripped all
meaning and purpose.

They've told us we're just
chemical zombies walking around

with this illusion
that we're conscious.

It sends me into an
existential crisis.

It's like, well, then why
do I even bother to think?

And so it's no wonder
that so many people,

if that's what they
believe is true,

are turning to this
kind of despair.

And so finding that
connection to something

greater, whatever
you want to call it--

the universe, the force,
whatever word you want to use.

If god is uncomfortable--

I know god was
uncomfortable for me,

and I prefer the word universe.

But that is a greater power.

Another thing that
you can imagine

is that you are a piece
of that greater power.

Think about the philosophy that
we're all part of one mind.

We can come to that
level of understanding

that we are creator
beings and that we

are responsible
ultimately for what's

going around in this world.

And so all of the despair we
see is really a reflection

that many of us have
despair in our inner worlds.

And if our inner
worlds start to get

more aligned with peaceful
kinds of feelings,

that's when the outer
world will catch up.

And so don't despair,
because each of us

has a role to play by really
finding that unique spark that

makes us who we are and
causing that to radiate

to the world around us.

No soul will be left behind,
and we are all in this together.

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